------------------
HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
------------------
Chapter 41
Rumors that a Korean hero had clashed with a Japanese hero spread like wildfire.
Even though the Brazilian Hero Association tried to shut them down, it was useless.
The guild members of Silken Lily had witnessed the whole thing themselves.
“Hey, just between us, okay? Remember what happened last time…?”
“Huh? Yeah, I’m doing fine. Brazil’s weather isn’t half bad, and the food suits me pretty well. But listen—this is seriously top secret. Like, no joke. You cannot tell anyone. The truth is… we ended up clashing with some Japanese heroes.”
“What, another one of those far-right Japanese monkey bastards ran his mouth again? Those bastards, seriously! Ugh, I was about ready to smash their faces last time! Huh? Oh, nothing big, really—just, a couple days ago in Brazil, we had a fight with the Imperial Guild. Ah! Crap, I shouldn’t even be telling you this yet…”
“You know Seo Dojun, right? Yeah, the eighth-ranked S-Rank hero! That guy is insanely strong. How strong? Well… I saw it with my own eyes, so…”
’Keep this to yourself’, ’it’s a secret’, ’you absolutely mustn’t tell anyone’—as if.
The Silken Lily guild members spilled everything to their families and friends anyway.
Of course, a “secret” shared like that never stays hidden.
Before long, the rumor was all over Korea, and soon enough even the journalists caught wind of it.
For reporters who would chase a story through hell itself, this kind of scoop about the mysterious Seo Dojun was juicy enough to make their mouths water.
They pounded out their articles at lightning speed.
At first, the news was just hearsay with zero fact-checking, but once the confirmation started rolling in, Seo Dojun completely dominated the Korean media.
“What’s the public sentiment looking like?”
At the question from Association Chairman Na Taehwang, Deputy Director Min Hong-gi answered right away.
“Interest in Hero Seo Dojun is absolutely explosive, sir. He’s been number one on the internet trending searches for three days straight.”
“Well, word got out that he completely crushed Ryouma Takashi, of all people—so no wonder the hype’s through the roof.”
Na Taehwang couldn’t quite hide a faint grin.
Ryouma Takashi was a key figure among the far-right Japanese who casually spewed hateful anti-Korean remarks.
Na Taehwang had clenched his fists so many times listening to Takashi’s trash talk.
So hearing that Ryouma Takashi had been beaten to a pulp by Dojun, to the brink of death—if it weren’t for his position, Na Taehwang would have danced for joy.
Except for a handful of pro-Japanese sympathizers, every ordinary Korean felt the same way—so it was only natural that public interest in Dojun was about to explode.
“But is it really true that the Japanese Hero Association has dropped its investigation?”
Min Hong-gi looked genuinely incredulous.
After all, Ryouma Takashi was practically the face of Japan’s hero community.
For him to suffer such a humiliating defeat, and at the hands of a Korean hero no less—the Japanese Association should have been tearing into the opponent any way they could.
That was their usual tactic: dig up dirt, trash the other side, and cover up their own humiliating losses.
That’s why, even though the news from Brazil felt good, Min Hong-gi was more worried that Dojun and Hero Hyun Jooyeon might end up in a tight spot because of it.
“They said the person himself requested no investigation, so the Japanese Hero Association had no choice.”
“I heard the same, sir… but, are you really saying Ryouma Takashi personally asked for that?”
“I can’t believe it either, but apparently so.”
At Na Taehwang’s wry chuckle, Min Hong-gi’s brow furrowed.
“I’m worried they might be scheming something behind the scenes.”
“Even if they are, there’s nothing we can do right now. We’re basically the parents of the kid who threw the punch, and they’re the parents of the kid who got punched. Unless Japan acts first, there’s no reason for us to jump in.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Even if it’s just a fight between kids, it’s the side that got hit who should step forward first. If the one who threw the punch jumps in with excuses, it just looks pathetic.
“Not that I want this to happen, but if Japan DOES try something shady, we can’t just sit there and take it. So, I want you to compile everything Ryouma Takashi and the Imperial Guild have done so far. If they attack, we need to counter properly.”
“Understood.”
Min Hong-gi looked confident that digging up dirt on Ryouma Takashi and the Imperial Guild wouldn’t be too hard.
“But… Do you really think we can take this all at face value?”
“You mean Seo Dojun?”
“Yes, sir. I just can’t wrap my head around it.”
That Seo Dojun had absolutely mauled Ryouma Takashi was hard to believe not only for Min Hong-gi, but also across the internet, where heated debates were raging.
“Come to think of it, a lot of this IS unbelievable.”
Na Taehwang smiled quietly at that.
For him, just confirming that his instincts had been right was a huge payoff from this incident.
And maybe—just maybe—he sensed this could shake up the entire global hero scene.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Shit!”
Kang Yeong-pyo, stretched out in first class on the plane, ripped off his eye mask like he couldn’t even dream of sleeping.
“What the hell is going on out there?”
Ryouma Takashi was the sharpest sword Kang Yeong-pyo had hidden up his sleeve.
And he’d paid dearly to swing that sword.
Money was the smaller part of it—the bigger price was handing over a few of his prime domestic businesses.
Of course, since Ryouma Takashi had failed to deliver, those deals were off the table now.
But that wasn’t the real problem.
“That Takashi actually failed…”
It was far more devastating to Kang Yeong-pyo that Ryouma Takashi had been defeated than losing any money or businesses.
“A one-sided beatdown, they say…”
It was impossible—unthinkable—for him to believe that.
He knew Ryouma Takashi’s skills better than anyone.
“There must be something else going on.”
Otherwise, Ryouma Takashi would never have failed—and he definitely wouldn’t have taken all the blame on himself while refusing any kind of investigation into what had happened.
“For Takashi to back off like that… something’s got to be there…”
The first suspect, of course, was the Hero Association.
But Kang Yeong-pyo knew Na Taehwang, the Association’s chairman, better than anyone.
Na Taehwang might be Korean too, but he’d never cut corners, never compromise with injustice, never step outside the rules.
In other words, if the rumors were true—that Seo Dojun had completely crushed Ryouma Takashi—then there’s no way Na Taehwang would have covered for him.
So there was no way the Association had pulled strings behind the scenes.
“Damn it! Not knowing what’s what is enough to drive me insane!”
There was only one thing he was sure of.
He had to personally stain his own hands with Seo Dojun’s blood.
And now that Ryouma Takashi had failed, Kang Yeong-pyo knew he’d have to move even more carefully and precisely than before.
“Things might have gotten tangled up, but… the sky over Brazil is still going to be the last sky that bastard Seo Dojun ever sees.”
Kang Yeong-pyo was confident.
Because he had a method that could kill anyone—Seo Dojun or otherwise—without fail.
＊ ＊ ＊
D-1.
There was just one day left until the operation to close the Brazilian Rift.
Two days ago, heroes from all over the world had gathered in São Paulo for this mission. The atmosphere was extremely chaotic.
No matter how thoroughly the Brazilian Hero Association had prepared, there was no way to easily control a gathering of heroes from around the world, each with their own unique personalities.
On top of that, word had spread that Korean heroes had clashed with Japanese heroes, which only added fuel to the fire.
It was already hard enough to focus on the Rift closure operation alone, but the tense standoff between Korea and Japan was pulling the whole atmosphere off balance.
Korea and Japan had never gotten along well in the first place, and with such an unpleasant incident on top of that, whenever just three or four heroes from each side got together, it was like a ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment.
Despite this, the Brazilian Hero Association did its best to calmly carry out the prepared schedule—
A general mission briefing, detailed personal briefings, even a motivational party to encourage success. They showed everything they had planned.
But the world’s heroes didn’t pay much attention to that.
What caught their interest was Seo Dojun, the Korean hero who had ruthlessly beaten Ryouma Takashi—a hero with a global reputation and proven strength.
Heroes were no different from ordinary people.
In fact, since they lived in the same world, their curiosity was even stronger.
“Wherever he goes, he’s a total attention magnet.”
Jeong Injoo shook her head as she felt the weight of all those stares aimed at Dojun.
At the hotel buffet where they’d come to eat, even while picking at their plates, the other heroes were blatantly staring at him.
It wasn’t just one or two days of this—it had already been three days.
Everywhere they went, the heated gazes made Jeong Injoo’s face burn with embarrassment even though she wasn’t the one being watched.
Of course, Dojun was different.
No matter how many people stared, he calmly carried his plate and picked out what he wanted to eat.
“That guy is seriously not normal, right?”
Jeong Injoo poked Hyun Jooyeon, who was standing next to her.
“He’s definitely on a different level than us regular people.”
“Regular? Pfft! Compared to that guy, we’re practically boring normies.”
Jeong Injoo snickered like it was the funniest thing in the world.
But then, her laughter stopped cold, and she scowled openly.
“Jooyeon, that fox-faced witch is back again! Go block her!”
“…Block who?”
“Look over there! She’s fluttering those smiling eyes at Dojun and wagging her tail! Look at that outfit! You can practically see half her chest! Seriously, what does she eat to get a chest that huge? A D-cup? No, probably an E-cup? Maybe… even bigger than I’m thinking?”
Jeong Injoo frowned, instinctively comparing her own chest.
A tall, voluptuous platinum-blonde Western beauty had sat down across from Dojun just as he put down his plate.
That was Gloria Tyler.
An American S-rank hero, and a woman who had never once missed the global “Top 10 Most Beautiful Heroes” list every year.
And, on top of that—
’She’s even a year younger than me…’
Hyun Jooyeon felt deeply uncomfortable about Gloria Tyler’s practically bursting cleavage, just like Jeong Injoo had said.
“Look at that! Wow… that guy’s still a guy after all. Can’t even keep his eyes up.”
Jeong Injoo grumbled, seeing Dojun’s gaze occasionally drift south of Gloria’s face.
“What are you waiting for? Go protect him!”
Unable to stand watching Dojun and Gloria talking so closely, Jeong Injoo shoved Hyun Jooyeon’s back forward.
Half forced, half willing, Hyun Jooyeon ended up in front of the two.
Standing there awkwardly.
“You taking orders or something?”
Dojun’s first line made Hyun Jooyeon’s face flush bright red.
“W-What are you even talking about?”
“Then why are you standing around like that?”
Realizing she was just standing at someone else’s table in a buffet without even holding a plate, Hyun Jooyeon tried to turn away quickly.
“If you haven’t eaten yet, go ahead and eat first.”
With that, Dojun stood up and started piling more food on a new plate.
“Have a seat.”
It was Gloria Tyler who smiled and offered the chair to Hyun Jooyeon, who was still frozen in place.
There was no good way to turn back, so Hyun Jooyeon had no choice but to sit next to Dojun.
The dishes on his plate were untouched, neatly arranged in a way that looked downright professional—as if he’d been raised on nothing but buffets his entire life.
Color-coded, organized by type of sauce—it was surprisingly clean and pleasant to look at.
“The more I see him, the more I like him.”
Gloria Tyler said, watching Dojun as he refilled his plate.
“You barely even know him.”
Hyun Jooyeon shot back, sounding prickly.
Gloria just smiled gently.
That smile—which had charmed not just America but the entire world—was so beautiful that even another woman, like Hyun Jooyeon, had to admit it.
“Some people, you can tell in a single meeting. Others, you can’t read even after years. Kaisel might seem cold and distant on the outside, but you can tell there’s a warmth inside him.”
[TL/N: Kasel → Kaisel. Sounds better (●'◡'●).]
“K… Kaisel?”
Hyun Jooyeon tilted her head, confused, and Gloria immediately explained.
“He said it was his American name.”
“......”
’American name?’
For some reason, that really rubbed Hyun Jooyeon the wrong way.
Especially the fact that Gloria, of all people, knew this “American name” before she did—that was downright infuriating.
’Kaisel?’
Clang! Clang!
Hyun Jooyeon stabbed her fork into her food more aggressively than ever before.
------------------
HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
------------------
